


promise in poetry, betrayal in blood

by halfeatenmoon



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Canon Incest, Canon-typical dubcon, F/F, Infidelity, Pre-Canon, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23332369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfeatenmoon/pseuds/halfeatenmoon
Summary: Anthy likes Kanae from the day she joins the student council. She knows it's a dangerous thing to get attached to a duelist. She still can't help wanting Kanae to keep winning.
Relationships: Himemiya Anthy/Ohtori Kanae
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	promise in poetry, betrayal in blood

It wasn't that Kanae was different. All the champions were _different_ \- from normal students, and from each other. Kanae was one that Anthy liked, though, from her first day on the student council, when she put on a demure demeanor but winked at Anthy as soon as Ruka's back was turned. The wink took her by surprise, and her hand slipped; she almost missed Touga's cup and poured some tea into his saucer. He didn't notice, though, and the meeting carried on as normal, except for the racing of Anthy's heart.

Anthy didn't expect Kanae to win. The ones she likes don't usually win. There were a lot of duelists that year - Ruka and Juri returning, Touga and Saionji coming up from the first year class, and then Kanae. She was older, almost ready to graduate, and yet here for the first time. How?

It didn't matter how. She wasn't going to win, not in a council made up of so many practiced fencers. In a way, it was a relief; Anthy didn't have to worry about her. She could just pour her tea, and watch her, and enjoy the way Kanae winked at her when nobody else was looking.

The End of the World decided the first duel for them this year. Ruka, as President, had to fight the first duel, and Kanae, as the oldest and newest, had to fight him. Touga and Saionji were disappointed, chafing to prove themselves. Kanae tilted her head as she listened to them and then offered to give up her place for one of them.

"No," Juri said, cutting her off. "We don't trade. Fight your duel, if you think you belong here, or leave."

"The seal says I belong here. The boys want to fight, and I don't mind letting one of them take the first blow. I can wait."

"You can't wait _that_ long," Juri sneered.

"If I win the right duel, I won't need long."

Juri snorted and turned away, and Kanae took the opportunity to flash Anthy a quick smile.

"So you think you're going to win," Touga said. It wasn't a question.

Kanae's smile was gone. She shot a quick look at Anthy, no wink this time, and then looked away so that Anthy couldn't see her eyes at all.

"Well," she said, "I didn't say that."

When Ruka's rose fell to the ground, his face went blank, like he couldn't believe what had happened, his hand clasping his breast pocket as if he had to check that it was gone. Kanae couldn't believe it either; she stood, quietly, looking at the sword in her hand as if she didn't understand what it had done.

Anthy was the only one who didn't show her surprise. She had a role to play; shocked or not, it was easy to move through the rote recitation and bowing of her head as she pledged herself to Kanae. What did make her stumble is the way Kanae looked at her when they're home, away from the gaze of the other duelists, where Kanae stood trembling and determined and said, "I don't know how to be a good fiancee, but I'm going to do my best. I'm going to take care of you."

Being taken care of is a trap. It's another kind of cage. It still left Anthy speechless with longing for a moment before she bowed her head and said "Thank you, Kanae-sama." There was a stutter in her voice that would have given her feelings away to anyone who knew her well enough.

Kanae didn't know her well enough.

Anthy was not in love. She doesn't fall in love with duelists, not any more. She liked Kanae, though, and Kanae seems to like her, and this is the best arrangement Anthy could hope for. Kanae didn't ask much of her, didn't make her do anything she didn't want to do. The most she wanted from Anthy was to show up at student council meetings on Kanae's arm. She didn't say it in as many words, but every time they reached the balcony, Kanae was by her side, no longer disguising the way she looked at Anthy, so that the others could never forget who the champion was now.

When they were alone, her tastes were less exotic than a lot of the champions of the past. Kanae seemed to like lounging in bed or eating breakfast together as much as she liked sex, and when they do have sex she was oddly focused on Anthy's pleasure. Anthy, in turn, did her best to be pleasured, to give the best performance she can of what Kanae wanted.

"Your betrothed has been with you for some time now," Akio said to her, on one of her visits. "Where does she think you go on these evenings?"

"Kanae-sama doesn't ask where I go."

"What a callous champion."

"Not at all. Kanae-sama is very considerate."

"Is that so?"

Anthy didn't answer. Akio reached over and touched her hair, pulled it free of its pins to cascade down her back. His touch was familiar, the comfort of warm routine, always a contrast to the new discoveries she made with each new champion. But she thought of Kane's touch, still, because Kanae's skin had become familiar, too. Not worn into her own skin and bones, not second nature like Akio's hands, but familiar enough to be comfortable.

"The chairman's daughter, is she not?" Akio asked, gazing through the window, as if he hadn't sent Kanae the rose seal himself. "Funny that she should accept the seal, let alone fight so fiercely. One would think that her father's position would be power enough."

_Perhaps she doesn't want power,_ Anthy thought. _Perhaps she only wants me._

Akio noticed her silence, and turned to gaze at her, instead. "I should like to meet her, someday."

Anthy swallowed down the fluttering sense of hope in her throat. It had been a long time, years and years gone by, since Akio took much interest in one of her champions. Maybe, if Akio was interested, there was hope for Kanae.

But no, the best Anthy could do was to appreciate Kanae for as long as she could, and enjoy what they had. No pain. A lot of pleasantness. And yet not so good that it would hurt when Kanae lost.

And Kanae did lose. It was inevitable. Anthy had a feeling that it was going to be Touga, and her instincts were rarely wrong. She had seen the change in him recently, from the eager but uncertain newcomer to a new, quiet confidence. There was a way that he touched his ring, now, a different way he carried his wooden practice sword, the way he sometimes reached to his hip to caress the hilt of a sword that wasn't there. When he lunged for Kane's rose, there was a terrible new confidence in knowing what his body could do, and yet a shock when he managed to do it.

Kanae didn't fall to her knees along with her rose. Her lips trembled for a moment before she set her jaw and held her hand out to Touga to shake. He didn't notice; not out of arrogance, but because he couldn't tear his eyes away from Anthy.

"You're mine now, Himemiya."

She bowed her head and said "Yes, Touga-sama," and didn't miss the way his breath quickened. She could practically hear his heart beat faster.

"Anthy," Kanae said. "I'll win you back."

She smiled, and bowed. "Best wishes to you, Ohtori-san."

Kanae smiled back, sadly. "I mean it. I want to take care of you. Looks like nobody else is going to do it."

"Shut up," Touga snapped, and then coughed and composed himself. "I'm going to take care of the Rose Bride now. I'll be the best champion she could want."

Touga walked out of the arena with his head held high and his hand trembling on Anthy's waist, every bit the boy trying to be a man.

There have been worse champions than Touga. There have been many better ones, too. He isn't cruel, but he is grandiose, showing her off at every opportunity. In bed he is clumsy, stiff with nerves, and it takes incredible patience to guide him through what to do. Anthy has the patience, but she also wants to tell him that they could just not have sex yet, not if he doesn't want it. He does want, though, even if he hates himself for his inexperience, so she teaches. He doesn't ask how to make it good for her. It's a relief that she doesn't have to teach him something that she's not sure of herself; it's disappointing, when she'd gotten used to Kanae's care.

It was almost a relief to return to Akio on Saturday night and not have to say a word. Akio didn't ask what she enjoyed, either. He just turned to her afterwards, knowingly.

"Is there something wrong, brother?" she asked, after he'd been staring a while.

"Only that it's always interesting to see what you're like with a new betrothed."

Perhaps it wasn't just Kanae. Perhaps Akio was just more interested in who won her hand this year.

"How is young Touga?" he continued.

"He is the champion." What else was she supposed to say? _He doesn't know what he's doing. He wants to be good. He's scared._

Akio gripped her wrist. "You should pay more attention. Were you too busy watching your loser, Ohtori? I can see the student council meetings. She watches you constantly. She tries to catch your eye."

"That's nothing to me. I pour the tea, and I follow my betrothed."

"You do," said Akio, his voice suddenly going soft. He let go of her wrist and pulled her into his arms instead. "You do your job beautifully. I just can't help noticing her. She wants you back."

"They always want me back, though."

"Not like this," he said, darkly.

"Perhaps she's the one we've been waiting for."

Anthy didn't let herself hope. But it would not be bad at all if Kanae were the one to revolutionise the world. If she could be Kanae's forever.

"Or perhaps," Akio countered, "With all your witchcraft, you still couldn't give her what she really wanted."

Anthy lied, though. She sees Kanae watching her. None of the other duelists see, but she does. She always sees.

She was afraid of being hounded by Kanae. Whenever she has a new champion, there's a chance the old one will follow her, hoping for things she can no longer give them. Kanae is carefully respectful, though. She keeps her distance. She just watches.

Anthy sees a lot, but even she wouldn't have known how Kanae was working to get her back if not for Touga. He was proud of himself for winning, but afraid, too, and especially afraid of Juri. So it was that he began haunting the fencing team practice after school, and of course, taking Anthy with him.

"I have to study her," he said, fiercely, his gaze pinned on Juri. "There must be a way to beat her, if I just watch her."

Anthy didn't notice. She was watching Kanae, who had never taken fencing before, fighting and failing and fighting again. No matter how many bouts she lost, she never showed any emotion but grim determination.

Anthy knew she was in trouble when Kanae struck Touga's rose down in a matter of seconds. It was so unexpected - not the win, but the speed of it - that it brought sharp tears to her eyes for a moment before she could blink them away and do her duty. She felt her body thrumming in a way that was unfamiliar and had nothing to do with her magic. She had to take extra care not to stutter when she bowed her head before Kanae and said "From this day forward, I belong to you."

She _is_ in love with Kanae. She knows it now, and she knows that she's a fool. Norhing good can come of it, but her heart sings when Kanae holds her hand on the way home, kisses her hard when they get through the door, when she whispers "I missed you" and "You're mine" against Anthy's naked skin.

It's her job, and she's done it a hundred times before. It still felt reckless when Anthy said, with Kanae's hot skin against hers and their hearts still racing from climax, "What do you want, Kanae-san? More than anything?"

"Even if it's impossible?"

"Yes, even that." Especially that.

"I want a sibling," Kanae said, softly, in the dark. "There's so much on me, as Ohtori's heir. And it's so lonely. I just want someone to share that with."

There wa a long, long pause, long enough for their pulses to slow to normal, before Anthy took a deep breath and said, "I have a brother."

Anthy hardly knew what to say when she introduced them. She was so full of hope, and nerves, and uncertainty. She suppressed a cringe when Kanae reached to shake Akio's hand and he kissed it instead. But she laughed, and said "You're as charming as your sister," and maybe this was going to be okay.

"Welcome to my home," Akio said. "I've prepared the tea and cakes. Though my baking is no match for my sister's."

"Is that so?" Kanae asked, with a wink at Anthy. "We'll just see about that."

Anthy thought she knew what Kanae looked like when she was determined to win, but now she duelled with an even greater ferocity. Before she lost, she had been quietly confident; now, she was ruthless, striking directly at every challenger's chest, barely letting a single blow in.

She won, again and again. She beat every duelist once, and then once again, and went home with her head held high. The only thing that made her more proud was when Akio thanked her for being so good to his sister.

"I don't need thanks. It's my pleasure."

"All the same." He smiled. "If there's anything you ever need, you tell me. It will be _my_ pleasure to help you."

"Akio, I couldn't..."

"Please," he said, covering her hand with his. "Let me. Isn't that what family is for?"

Anthy has seen this determination in other duelists. She's seen the look in Kanae's eyes and the set of her shoulders. Kanae knows how much she has to lose, and she's terrified. She doesn't know what lies at the ends of the duels, but she knows that they challenge her at every turn, even as she wins and wins and wins. She must know there's going to be a reckoning.

When Kanae has beaten Ruka for the final time, she is more sombre that Anthy has ever seen her. She's quiet and agitated all night and the next morning, and nothing Anthy can do seems to soothe her. Anthy is nervous, too; she knows what Kanae doesn't. The next duel isn't far away.

She should wait it out, let her betrothed work through her fears and hold still until the final letter arrives from The End of the World.

Except that she loves Kanae more than she can remember loving anyone in a long, long time, and she's all too aware of how it will surely be over soon. She wants to spend their last few days together seeing Kanae smile.

When Akio pulls up in his convertible, Anthy doesn't even look at him. She looks at Kanae, sees the way she relaxes and her smile tentatively returns.

"You seem stressed," Akio says, leaning all too casually against the car's bonnet. "I just can't have that. I thought all three of us could go to the beach."

"Yes," Kanae smiled. "That would be perfect."

When the late afternoon came, after they had walked at the beach and eaten soba and ice creams by the side of the road, and the sun was getting ready to set, Akio found a passer-by to take a photo of the three of them, all together, smiling into the sun. That night, Kanae propped the polaroid against her alarm clock and then pulled Anthy into her arms.

"I'm going to remember this day forever," she murmured. "Thank you so much."

Anthy could protest that she had done nothing, that it was all Akio. But it had been her, and she loved Kanae, and she was tired of never taking credit for the load on her back. And besides, Kanae was kissing her now, and it hardly seemed polite to interrupt her betrothed to correct her.

When they woke the next morning, the photo had been joined by a letter, innocently addressed _To The Champion_.

She had hoped. It was foolish for the Rose Bride to hope, but she had to let it through sometimes. She had hoped that Kanae would stay true to her word and stay by Anthy's side. But she knew what was coming. Kanae didn't. When they reached the arena and Akio stepped out from the shadows in his full duelling garb, Kanae almost dropped her sword.

"No," she whispered.

"I'm afraid so." Akio bowed. "This must be our final duel. Anthy?"

If she didn't think about it, it was easy to to place the rose in her brother's pocket. It was hard not to flinch when he put a hand around her waist as she did it and kissed her cheek, a chaste mockery of his true self.

By the time she was back at Kanae's side, her champion looked even more shaken. "I can't do this. I can't fight you."

"I'm afraid there is no other way."

"There must be!" Her hands were balled into fists now. "I love you both! You're my family. I won't fight you like this."

Akio sighed. A calculated wistfulness. "If only you truly became part of our family. It's the only way we could put this aside."

"You don't need a duel to convince me of that," Kanae said, her back straight and her head held high. "I would do anything."

"Would you marry me, then, instead, and make Anthy your sister?"

Anthy held her breath, but she knew it was over. There was no use in hoping any more. Kanae didn't even flinch when Akio's sword sliced through her rose. Anthy wasn't sure she even noticed.

"We're engaged!" Kanae said, turning to Anthy. "Isn't that wonderful? You and I will be sisters. We can all be family together."

Anthy as been hurt by duelists. She has been hurt by her brother. Neither of those had ever hurt precisely like this, seeing Kanae seduced and changed and expecting Anthy to be _happy_ about it, of all things.

She's been betrayed so many times before. She is the Rose Bride, and she does not scream. But it takes everything she has to keep her body still and calm, to plaster on the blandest smile she can muster, and say "That's nice, Ohtori-san."

The Rose Bride takes pleasure where she can. Sometimes it's roses. Sometimes it's the unexpected kindness of duelists. Today, it's keeping her heart hidden, her feelings private, and knowing that doing so makes Kanae hurt, too.


End file.
